Bees

Ann Johansson for The New York Times

News about Bees, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Feb. 24, 2015

Airports around world are beginning to install beehives on empty stretches of land as part of growing green initiative; hives make use of space that cannot be legally built on while also helping support embattled bee populations and providing way of testing local pollutants. MORE

Jan. 27, 2015

Science Q&A explains how bees adapt to very cold weather and whether they hibernate. MORE

Oct. 13, 2014

Advertising column; Cascadian Farm, organic brand owned by General Mills, is encouraging consumers to plant wildflowers to provide a healthful environment for bees; alarm has grown over widespread loss of bee colonies. MORE

Sep. 25, 2014

Op-Ed article by bee advocate Noah Wilson-Rich offers hope that phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, responsible for killing thousands of honeybees worldwide, may be waning but warns bees are still threatened by chemicals, diseases and habitat loss; holds efforts by beekeepers and others to revive bee populations must continue, along with research into smart pollination practices. MORE

Sep. 9, 2014

Dr Gene E Robinson study in journal Animal Behaviour reports that honeybees' social structure is less rigidly determined than previously thought, offering surprising amounts of individuality, flexibility in job duties and social mobility. MORE

Jul. 15, 2014

Op-Ed article by biologist Mark Winston examines global collapse of honeybee colonies; holds it was brought about in part by the complex interaction of man-made chemicals like pesticides in the environment; contends tumultuous demise of honeybees should alert human beings to their own vulnerability; calls on regulatory authorities to require studies on how exposure to low dosages of combined chemicals may affect human health before approving compounds. MORE

Jul. 8, 2014

Science Q&A on why honeybees sometimes drink water from birdbaths. MORE

Jun. 21, 2014

White House announces new initiatives to promote the health of honeybees and other pollinators, which have suffered enormous losses in recent years. MORE

May. 27, 2014

Study in journal Current Biology tracks waggle dance performed by bees, movements used to communicate location of good nectar and pollen sources to other bees; researchers find that program to encourage environmentally friendly landscaping and farming has had resounding success in attracting bees. MORE

May. 16, 2014

Survey of beekeepers conducted by Agriculture Department and Bee Informed Partnership finds that loss of managed honeybee colonies from all causes fell to 23.2 percent nationwide over 2013-14 winter, down from 30.5 percent year before. MORE

Apr. 3, 2014

Federal government has announced $3 million program to step up support for honeybees in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and North and South Dakota; program will encourage farmers to take measures to help bolster bee colony populations, which have been declining rapidly since 2006 due to colony collapse disorder. MORE

Jan. 28, 2014

The Week column; study in journal mBio speculates that honeybee die-offs may be due in part to rapidly mutating virus that has jumped from tobacco plants to soy plants to bees; other significant developments in science highlighted. MORE

Jan. 22, 2014

Research published in academic journal mBio finds that mysterious mass die-offs of honeybees, known as colony collapse disorder, may be linked to rapidly mutating virus that jumped to bees from tobacco and soy plants; Agriculture Department says that honeybees are crucial to production of crops that make up quarter of Americans’ diet, and pollination adds about $15 billion to crops' value each year. MORE

Jan. 21, 2014

Annette Van Oystaeyen study in journal Science reports that fertile queen bees prevent reproductive function of worker females by emitting chemicals known as pheromones that inhibit development of worker bees' ovaries. MORE

Dec. 18, 2013

European food regulators say class of pesticides linked to deaths of large numbers of honey bees might also harm human health and recommend European Commission further restrict their use. MORE

Dec. 12, 2013

Bayer, one of major producers of type of pesticide linked to large-scale die-off of honey bees in North America and Western Europe, sees varroa mites as a different threat and is working to find a remedy; experts say mites are problem, but cannot be seen as only threat to bees. MORE

Aug. 7, 2013

Durst Organization is cultivating bees as part of environmental program atop company's 51-story-tower at 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, home to corporate and investment businesses of Bank of America as well as Durst's offices; beekeeping is increasing in popularity on New York City rooftops. MORE

Jul. 30, 2013

The Week column; study in PLoS One suggests that agricultural chemicals may be contributing to honeybee deaths; other significant developments in health and science news highlighted. MORE

May. 11, 2013

The pink lady’s slipper orchid, or moccasin flower, is the queen of springtime wildflowers. It is also one of nature’s most beautiful liars. MORE

May. 3, 2013

Comprehensive federal study shows that many factors are contributing to devastation of American honeybee colonies, including pesticides, parasites, poor nutrition, and lack of genetic diversity; phenomenon, known as colony collapse disorder, affects pollination of American agricultural products worth tens of billions a year. MORE

Apr. 7, 2013

Editorial calls attention to fact that bee colonies have been dying in increasing numbers and that 2012 was especially bad; calls on Environmental Protection Agency to conduct immediate analysis of class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, which have been demonstrated to damage bees' brain function. MORE

Apr. 2, 2013

The Week column; colony collapse disorder, malady that has been causing mass death of honeybees since 2005, appears to be advancing, perhaps due to class of pesticides called neonicotinoids; other significant developments in health and science news highlighted. MORE

Mar. 29, 2013

Mysterious ailment that has been killing honeybees appears to have expanded drastically in past year, wiping out as many as half of the hives needed to pollinate much of America’s produce; beekeepers and some researchers say there is growing evidence that powerful new class of pesticides could be important factor. MORE

Mar. 16, 2013

Proposed measure to restrict use of pesticides that have been blamed for bee die-offs worldwide is left in limbo after representatives from Britain and Germany abstain from voting, leaving European Commission without needed qualified majority. MORE

Mar. 15, 2013

European officials plan to vote on proposal to sharply restrict use of chemicals that have been implicated in decline of global bee populations. MORE

Mar. 8, 2013

Study in journal Science shows that naturally caffeine-laced nectar of some plants enhances learning process for bees, so that they are more likely to return to those flowers; research casts new light on ancient evolutionary interaction between plants and pollinators and is intriguing confirmation of deep similarities in brain chemistry across animal kingdom. MORE

Feb. 3, 2013

Chuck Klosterman The Ethicist column answers question on effects of gender dysphoria on family members and follows up on advice about beekeeping. MORE

Jan. 20, 2013

Chuck Klosterman The Ethicist column answers questions about beehives, cleaning the estate of hoarders, and talking a policeman out of giving a ticket. MORE

Jun. 19, 2012

Swarms of homeless honeybees are turning up in New York City, often in inconvenient public places, at nearly double the rate of past years; experts cite optimal breeding conditions created by a warm winter followed by an early spring; Officer Anthony Planakis, the New York Police Department’s unofficial beekeeper in residence, who has been responding to swarm calls since 1995, says this has been New York's busiest year of swarming in his experience. MORE

Jun. 5, 2012

Study in journal Functional Ecology finds that cone-shaped cells on the petals of flowering plants act like a surface of Velcro that pollinating bees can cling to. MORE

May. 27, 2012

New York City's beekeepers are scurrying to keep pace with expanding colonies as the bees go into reproductive overdrive in response to spring flowers; beekeeping, once a clandestine activity in the city, has been legal for two years. MORE

Mar. 30, 2012

Two studies, published by French and British research teams in journal Science, find that low levels of pesticides known as neonicotinoids can have significant negative effects on bee colonies, and may be a culprit in the rapid worldwide decline in bee populations. MORE

Mar. 20, 2012

Heather Mattila study in journal PLoS One finds that queen honey bees may have evolved their trademark promiscuity because it results in the hive gathering a diversity of 'good' bacteria, improving the health and nutrition of their colonies. MORE

Mar. 13, 2012

Study in journal Science finds that 'scout' honeybees, who leave the hive to seek out new food and hive locations, have genetic brain patterns that set them apart from other bees. MORE

Nov. 28, 2011

Editorial notes that 4 out of 11 new bee species designated by Jason Gibbs of Cornell University come from New York City. MORE

Oct. 25, 2011

Study published in Systematic Entomology claims that migration northwards of two new bee species sheds light on Panama's history as land bridge between South and Central America. MORE

Sep. 21, 2011

Final round of college golf tournament in Fort Worth is called off because of swarming bees. MORE

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For Venus Williams, there’s not much joking on the court these days. And even as the U.S. Open crowd broke out in giggles when a bee disturbed her match, Williams stood stonefaced waiting to return a serve.